If good old-fashioned gumption will get them to the finish line first, a Kentucky couple ought to win the 10th edition of CBS' "The Amazing Race," which is off and running with a new season this weekend.

Dave and Mary Conley of Stone (population about 300) in Pike County will be among a dozen couples competing when the racers bolt from the starting gate Sunday from 8:30 to 10 p.m. on CBS.

The race was taped earlier this year, but the contestants can't talk about it until it's over or they get sent home. But that didn't stop Rita Hatfield of Hardy, Ky., from speaking up for the Conleys in a phone interview this week.

"Mary is my sister and my best friend," said Hatfield. The Conleys have three kids, ages 10, 5 and 6. She's 31 and he's 32.

"Dave Jr. works as a boss in a coal mine, and he calls her a homemaker," said Hatfield, "but she is a domestic goddess … a mother, teacher, taxi-cab driver, nurse and doctor."

Hatfield said the Conleys aren't in it for the million-dollar prize but would certainly have plenty of places to use the money. "With three kids, there's no lack of things they could do with it, but they want it for college educations," Hatfield said. The big reason her sister applied was to make a point.

"Mary has always loved 'The Amazing Race,' " said Hatfield. "She wanted to prove she could do something … to show that she's not just a homemaker, that she can get out there and compete."

Her husband would have preferred "Survivor" but was willing and open for any contest.

"They'll make a great team," said Hatfield, "because Mary is very smart and willing to try anything, and Dave Jr. is very competitive … a hard worker, and when he starts something he finishes it."

There's a lot to finish on this latest "Amazing Race," which will cover 40,000 miles with stopovers in 13 countries. There will be challenges to master in places from Madagascar to Mongolia. Competitors will travel to Kuwait, Hanoi and Beijing, where they will search for clues in the Forbidden City and have to climb the Great Wall of China. Being in shape is a key factor.

"Mary lost from a size 16 to an 8 in about three months to get ready," said Hatfield. "She worked out big time, dieted and did everything." Her husband is an Army veteran and has kept in shape working in the mines.

Mary was born in Williamson, W.Va., and was a newspaper carrier for 10 years before she went away to Bible college to become a teacher. The couple met while working at a McDonald's during a summer break a decade ago and got married.

Hatfield thinks they'll work well together, which is an essential ingredient of winning "The Amazing Race," where team members have been known to blow it by spouting off.

"Mary won't take it from anybody," her sister said. "If they have a little squabble, she tells him right then. She's like our mother. She tells people up front what she thinks."

The other teams are the diverse melting pot that "The Amazing Race" likes to stir up. They include Muslims from Ohio, a Rockette and a beauty queen, two male models, an Indian-American pair who speak multiple languages, two brothers, a pair of former South Carolina cheerleaders and Iron Man competitors, one of whom lost a leg at age 7.

The Conleys don't have anything big planned for opening night, even though the couple are the talk of the town. "We're just planning to get together at her house and watch it with the kids," Hatfield said.

She insists she doesn't know if her sister and brother-in-law won. "I did ask her, and she told me: 'Rita, you know I'm under contract; I can't tell you.' "

Can she tell anything from the way they're acting?

"I kind of have an idea, but I don't know for sure," said Hatfield. Unofficial updates have popped up all over the Internet.

"I've seen things about how far they've gone from pictures, but I really don't have any idea," said Hatfield. "I have a feeling they did win, though, because they are very, very tough competitors."

Mary & David are also in "USA Today". In Robert Bianco's section. Oh yeah, by the way we finally have an actual name for kentuckygirl, Mary's sister, Rita. One more thing in today's "New York Daily News" it states what the delicacy eaten on the first leg of the race is. I will post the answer in the spoiler section.

A Pike County couple will appear in the 10th season of “The Amazing Race” television show on CBS, which premieres tonight at 8:30 p.m.

Competitors David and Mary Conley of Stone, the married parents of three children, say in CBS interviews they have been exercising and practicing speaking in several languages to get ready for the race, which covers more than 40,000 miles in under 30 days.

They are one of 12 teams competing for a $1 million prize. Teams will travel to such exotic locations as Kuwait, Mongolia, Beijing, Madagascar and Hanoi, Vietnam.

David Conley is a 32-year-old coal miner and Mary Conley is a 31-year-old homemaker. According to an interview on the CBS Web site, the Conleys met after he got out of the Army and she finished college, when they were both working at McDonald’s. Now, they have three kids — a 10-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 5-year-old.

“They can be angels or devils, it’s according to how you look at it,” David Conley says in the interview.

He says he began by trying out for “Survivor,” another CBS reality show, and got to the second round before getting a call from Amazing Race.

Conley says his tough career underground has him ready for anything. “I am a coal miner — I’m prepared. She’s been preparing,” he says of his wife.

Mary Conley told CBS she has been preparing by exercising regularly. “I was a size 16 when the Amazing Race called me, and now I’m a size 8.”

The couple also say they have a plan for how to win.

“I plan on doing the risky stuff — I want to,” Mary Conley says in the interview, while she’ll leave the more physical tasks to her husband.

“We’re hoping people’s going to underestimate us, just because we’re from Kentucky,” David Conley adds.

On the CBS tape, they also seem confident.

“We’re going to win,” Mary Conley tells the camera.

The Conleys live on Mullens Fork Road in Stone. David Conley grew up in Stone, while Mary Cline Conley was raised in South Williamson.

Ok..I was liking this couple from all of the talk I have been seeing about them...but..no offense to anyone here who knows them....I wasn't thrilled with the way David was treating Mary on the show...UNTIL when she got over the wall, he had nothing really to say to her(good or bad)...and then one of the only times I did hear him say something, he was telling her to be quiet.....I hope I am wrong...because I was really liking them...

Like PPG, I was disappointed in David. He seems too critical and impatient towards Mary. I hope you're right puddin...about the editing. I still support them and wish them well, but if David keeps on as he did tonight, it will be very hard for me to respect or like him. Mary does not deserve the way he spoke to her...I don't care whether it's a Kentucky "thing" for the man to be the BOSS...a man can be the boss w/o treating his woman like dirt.

He was trying to help her on the wall and she did tell him several times to shut up. And he did say he was proud of her for making it up the wall, he did not think she would make it. Was it him that said she would have some proud kids?

I want to first say that it isn't a Kentucky "thing" for the man to be the BOSS. I cringed when I heard Mary speak those words last night but it isn't just a Kentucky "thing". You will find that type of male mentality (or lack thereof) in every state and every country. It is prevalent in some cultures. Is it right. No!!! I was born in eastern Kentucky about an hours drive from Stone. I have lived here for over 40 years in a town only slightly bigger than Stone. I just get tired of fighting the stereotypes.

That being said Mary seems to be able to take care of herself. When she was trying to climb the wall it seemed to me that her husband was being supportinve and trying to help and all she did was shout at him, telling him to shut up. In the beginning they were both nervous and at the end they were working under major stress sure they were going to be eliminated. This is a combination of emotions that can easily bring out the worst in any of us and cause us to say things that we don't really mean.

I don't want anyone to think that I am picking on Rudy. I'm not his post was just the one that caught my attention. I've read these forums for a long time, have no problems with Rudy and usually agree with him.

I just hope this experience will expand the horizons of Mary and her husband and she can bring this back to their children.

He was trying to help her on the wall and she did tell him several times to shut up. And he did say he was proud of her for making it up the wall, he did not think she would make it. Was it him that said she would have some proud kids?

Exactly. Well, he said he thought she was not going to make it, but, at least for me, this is another (twisted) way to say that she can do things that even she didn't believe (she said herself that she coldn't see herselk climbing that wall). And yes, he was the one that said the thing about the proudest kids.

Ok..I was liking this couple from all of the talk I have been seeing about them...but..no offense to anyone here who knows them....I wasn't thrilled with the way David was treating Mary on the show...UNTIL when she got over the wall, he had nothing really to say to her(good or bad)...and then one of the only times I did hear him say something, he was telling her to be quiet.....I hope I am wrong...because I was really liking them...

Seeeee.......I said he had nothing to say to her (that i liked anyways) UNTIL the wall.......I did agree he was nice to her after that.....Im really not anti David and Mary...just hope he treats her better....

Oh the way me & my bf yell at each other is much worse than Mary & David .. they probably laughed about it later like we so . I can't even imagine the pressure these teams must be under especially when you see other teams passing you and not knowing whos ahead of you .

I am sure that they had a big laugh about the way they were edited. And no Mary doesn't just sit at home taking care of the kids while David Jr. makes the decisions. It's like I have said before she doesn't take anything from anyone. Mary was saying that the way some people may think is that women take care of the kids and the men make the decisions but not in her household it is 50-50. She just wants to prove that she can compete as well as her husband.